


a late night concert

by cykeswiki



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff, Late Night Conversations, Other, This ship owns my soul, maki being affectionate for once in her life??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28830327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cykeswiki/pseuds/cykeswiki
Summary: Kaede finds herself unable to sleep, and heads off to her lab to distract herself. Little did she know she's not the only one awake tonight.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Harukawa Maki
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	a late night concert

**Author's Note:**

> Somewhat of a sequel to my previous work, in that Kaede's still dealing with the trauma of her Der Flohwalzer-related panic attack. So she copes the only way she knows how.

It’s late. So late Kaede is barely even aware of what time it is. But how late it is doesn’t matter, because Kaede refuses to sleep. She can’t. She won’t. Not if it means having another dream like the one she had the other night. She sits up in her bed, her pink t-shirt scrunched up on her body from tossing and turning in her bed, eyes wide open the entire time as she tried to sleep but failed every time.

Her feet touch the carpet of her dorm, awkwardly moving around the foot of her bed until eventually she finds her slippers. White slippers, with piano keys drawn into the plush material. Fit very well with the musical note sweatpants she wore.

She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew she couldn’t stay here. Not as long as sleep evaded her so persistently. Opening the door to her dorm, in her sleep-deprived state she yawned a bit and rubbed her eyes...

...And then the next thing she knew, she found herself sitting at the piano in her research lab. By the time she regained enough consciousness to realize where she was, she looked around in confusion for a bit, not even remembering the walk from her dorm to here. Had she really become so accustomed to being in this room that she came here without even realizing?

Kaede sighs, and turns her full attention back to the piano in front of her. As long as she’s here, she might as well play, right? No matter what happens in her life, she knows that the piano will always be there for her. There to comfort her in these late hours, when there was nobody awake but her. Taking a deep breath, Kaede lifts her hands and begins to play. It was a cold night, and her body shivered every now and then, but her hands stayed perfectly still and composed, dancing across the keys with the grace and skill Kaede was so known for.

She didn’t even notice, since she didn’t need sheet music to decide what song she played, but she had found herself playing “Clair de Lune”. Her go-to whenever she needed comfort. There were a million and one other songs she could play, ones that she had long since memorized, but when push came to shove and she needed a song to ease her nerves, this was always what she played, without fail.

Now that she was here, her fingers moving so fluidly across the keys, Kaede could feel all her worries melting away. There were no nightmares to be had here. No worries, no stress. There was just her, and the piano that helped her make such beautiful music.

She had become so engrossed in the song, that once she finished playing it the first time, she simply played it again. It was doing such a good job of keeping her calm, and she wanted that experience to continue. To live in this world of pure harmony and music for the rest of her life.

But by the time the encore had finished, Kaede didn’t have time to play a third rendition before she suddenly heard slow clapping coming from somewhere. While slow clapping usually was rather condescending, this applause felt genuine. The applause of someone who had truly appreciated her performance.

Ripped from her world of music, Kaede’s hands moved away from the piano as she looked around to see where the clapping was coming from. Even her tired eyes didn’t take long to find out the cause, as she soon saw a figure standing in the door of her lab. Had she left it open? Were people hearing her music this late at night? Oh jeez, she hoped she didn’t wake anyone up…

While she could tell that there was a figure standing in her doorway, her eyes weren’t focused enough to tell who it was. That is, until the figure finally spoke. “Wonderful performance as always, Kaede.” The figure said, and immediately Kaede recognized the voice. It was the voice of Maki Harukawa, one of her closest friends.

“Oh, Maki…!” Kaede said, shaking her head rapidly for a second to try and wake up further so she could have an actual conversation with the girl. “Hey, sorry, did I wake you up? I didn’t even realize the door of my lab was open…” She said, thoroughly embarrassed by her actions.

“Our dorms are 2 floors above the labs, and they’re soundproof.” Maki explained, with all her usual tact. “I was already awake, you had nothing to do with it. When I left my dorm, I heard your music coming from downstairs, so I came to check it out.” She explained as she walked closer to Kaede. “What’s got you down here so late at night?” She asked.

Kaede knew this question was coming, and just gave a small laugh as one of her arms moved to hold the other one at her side. “Well, it’s never too late for a quick practice session, right?” She joked, to which Maki just sighed and walked behind Kaede, grabbing onto her hair and pulling the scrunchie she always wore around her wrist off.

“Well, if you’re going to hold a concert right now, you should at least put a little more work into your appearance.” Maki chided, to which Kaede just blushed. She looked at the nearby window, which was just reflective enough from the moonlight shining through to realize what Maki was talking about. Her hair, which was normally styled and straight, was messy and disheveled right now, no doubt from her having walked straight from her bed to her lab. 

Maki tugged at the rat’s nest that was Kaede’s bedhead, but not in a rough and painful way. In a surprisingly gentle way, one that Kaede hadn’t really expected from the girl. Soon enough she felt her hair being styled into a rough ponytail, which Maki straightened out the best she could with just her fingers.

“There. Better, right?” Maki asked, and Kaede turned to the window once more to see her reflection in the glass. The ponytail was still a bit messy, since there was only so much Maki could do with no hair care tools at her disposal, but it was a lot better than how Kaede had looked before.

Giving a smile to the other girl, Kaede nodded. “Better. Thank you, Maki.” She then turned back to her piano, her hands resting on the keys… and not moving at all. Her body shivered once again, not just from the cold, but also from the sudden nerves she felt now that Maki was here. Now that she knew she had an audience to this late night concert.

Maki sits down on the bench right next to Kaede without another word, and rests her head on the girl’s shoulder. The best form of comfort a girl like Maki could offer. “You know, you can just go back to bed, Maki… I’ll be fine here, I promise.” Kaede said, to which Maki just gave a soft hum and shook her head slightly.

“Wherever you go, I go. You should know this by now, Kaede.” Maki responded, scooting a little bit closer to the pianist. “If you’re going to stay up, then so am I. The least I can do is not let you be alone right now.”

Kaede hesitates for a moment, wanting to once again tell Maki that it was fine, that she could leave, that she’d be alright alone… But as she thought about it, even Kaede herself was unsure if that was really true. Sure, she could probably get lost in the music once again and stay here until the morning, but would that really make her feel better?

The two girls sat there in silence, Maki not moving her head away from Kaede’s shoulder for a second. After a couple minutes, the silence is broken. And it’s broken by the one question Kaede didn’t want to hear right now.

“What’s wrong, Kaede?”

Hearing Maki ask that makes Kaede tense up for a moment, but she quickly relaxes in an attempt to play it cool. “Wrong? What makes you think something’s wrong, Maki?” Kaede asks, though a nervous laugh she gives off afterwards makes her already terrible lie even more obvious.

“It’s 2 AM, you looked like you had just crawled out of bed when I got here, and even while you were playing, your face didn’t have its usual calm, composed expression.” Maki explained, the last bit of information something Kaede wasn’t aware of. “You looked like you were upset about something. Like you were just using the piano as a way to escape from something.”

Was she really that obvious? Kaede’s hands move away from the piano once more, and just sit in her lap awkwardly. Maki, in a rare display of affection, lifts her head up off of Kaede’s shoulder, and wraps one arm around the girl’s waist to pull her closer. “If something’s wrong, you can tell me. You know that, right?” Maki asked. “I’m not the type to go gossiping to other people about someone else’s problems. Whatever it is, it stays between us.”

Kaede still hesitates, though she does nothing to stop Maki from pulling her closer into a half embrace. She wasn’t aware of it until just now, but this kind of comfort really was what she needed right now. “It’s nothing, Maki, I promise.” Kaede responds after some hesitation, still downplaying her own issues. “It was… just a bad dream.”

“A bad dream?” Maki repeats, her deep red eyes looking deeply into Kaede’s own purple-hued eyes. “What kind of bad dream?” She asks, though she doesn’t expect an answer. And just as she thought, Kaede clearly hesitates to mention it.

“A… really bad kind.” Kaede mutters out after swallowing deeply. Her breath becomes a bit shakier, and her face turns a bit more pale. “The kind that feels… all too real while you’re having it. You wake up, and everything’s fine, of course. But when you’re still in the dream, it feels like it’s really happening.” She doesn’t realize it, but Kaede’s hand comes up to rub her neck at this point, as if she’s feeling around for something.

If Maki notices this unconscious action, she doesn’t say anything. She just keeps her arm wrapped gently around the other girl’s waist. She was going to be here for Kaede, no matter what. “I see.” She says after a few seconds of pause. “Well, I won’t ask anything more. If you don’t wanna talk about it, it’s not like I can force you, even if I wanted to.” She turns the blonde’s head so that they’re facing each other, and she gently presses her forehead against Kaede’s.

“But… Even if you won’t tell me the details, I don’t need to know. You’re upset, that much I can tell.” Maki speaks in a quiet tone, trying to sound soft and pleasant. But of course, she doesn’t need to do anything for Kaede to enjoy hearing the sound of her voice. “So I’ll stay with you tonight until you aren’t. However long that takes.” She finishes by gently moving her head away from Kaede’s.

By this point, tears are beginning to form in Kaede’s eyes, but they’re not tears of sadness. No, they’re tears of gratitude. Tears that Kaede sheds because she’s so thankful to have Maki here with her right now, right when she needed the other girl the most. Maki may not have been a very affectionate person, but Kaede certainly was. So soon enough, Maki feels herself being pulled into a tight hug, and the gesture causes her eyes to widen in surprise for a moment.

“Thank you, Maki…” Kaede says, her voice quiet and shaky. “I… I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this right now.” She adds, a statement which finally causes Maki to soften up and return the hug. She can feel Kaede’s tears staining her pajama top, but she doesn’t care one bit about that.

“You’re welcome, Kaede.” Maki responds, tightening the hug for just a brief moment before breaking it off and allowing the pianist to sit upright. 

“Well, as long as we’re here, you might as well play something, right?” She gestures to the piano, which causes Kaede to turn to it once more. “A private concert just for me, starring Kaede Akamatsu, the one and only Ultimate Pianist.” Something akin to a smirk finds its way onto Maki’s face. “I must be pretty lucky to have such an opportunity.”

At this point, Maki grabs a blanket that she had brought with her into the lab, and gently wraps one end of it around Kaede. Loosely, of course, so that the girl can still move her arms around to play. The other end wraps around her own shoulder, and the warmth of the cotton material along with the warmth of being near Kaede just… feels right to her.

With another small laugh, Kaede just nods. “Right, as long as we’re here, we might as well get some entertainment out of it…!” Kaede says before placing her hands on the keys for the third time tonight. “I’ll make sure to play to the best of my abilities, so I hope you enjoy!” With newfound determination, Kaede begins to dance her fingers across the piano once more, this time playing Chopin’s “Prelude No. 15”, known otherwise as “Raindrop”.

Maki rests her head on Kaede’s shoulder once more, and allows herself to get lost in the music. She’d have to ask Kaede about her nightmares sometime soon, but for now, she just lets the pianist play on. No need to add undue stress to the situation.

Kaede’s piano playing was truly beautiful...


End file.
